Iron Girl
by MarvelGirl16
Summary: Claire Montgomery was a normal teenager, until a terrible car accident claimed her mother's life. Now, with nowhere else to go, she must turn to someone she never wanted to meet. Her father. How does Tony Stark react to have a teenage daughter?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Claire Montgomery! Get your skinny butt out of bed before I drag you out! You'll be late for school!" My mom shouted upstairs at me. Our Chicago town house was small, so mom's words were loud, and clear. Mom was generally carefree, unless you got on her nerves, then you'd better watch out.

"Fine," I grumbled, as I got out of my wonderful, brand new queen-sized bed and shuffled to our bathroom in my pink and blue polka dot flannel pyjamas. Winter had just set in, and they didn't call it the windy city for nothing!

"What do you want for breakfast pumpkin?" she called put as I got in the shower.

"Just toast thanks!" I shouted back. I clambered out after seven minutes under the hot water and ran around in my towel, trying to locate various articles of clothing. Finding my favourite flower-print jeans and cream shirt, I got dressed hurriedly, and attempted to revise for my chemistry test. I didn't really need to, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The words my mother had crammed into my head every chance she got since I was a baby. I then quickly slipped on my favourite purple Vans and dried my long, dark brown hair, deciding to leave it in its natural waves.

Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I ran downstairs to my Nutella covered toast, and class of milk.

"Slow down Claire-bear, you'll be sick if you eat any faster. You won't be late," mom reassured me as I began to gobble down my breakfast. Managing to consume the plate in less than five minutes, I then dashed back upstairs to gather my books and brown leather jacket.

"Wow, only fifteen minutes. I believe that's a new record," mom said jokingly as I loaded myself into our grey SUV. I stuck out my tongue as she pulled out of our driveway and onto the busy Chicago streets. In this traffic, I was most definitely going to be late.

Fifteen minutes later, my high school became visible. The bell had just gone, so if I rushed, I would get to my first class on time. As mom came to a halt in the school parking lot, I jumped out after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you tonight honey! Have a great day," she said, before returning to the road, and heading to work. Wasting no time, I crashed through the front doors to find students still wandering to their classes. Thank god! After cramming all my things into my locker, I walked as calmly as I could to the science labs. Of course I had chemistry first up.

"Miss Montgomery, late again I see?" Mr Grayson stated as I strode into my classroom.

"Sorry," I said with a small wince as I took my seat.

"It's a good thing you're at the top of the class, otherwise I'd be very worried," he said with a chuckle as he handed me my test. I accepted it gratefully, and begun. It was the easiest test so far. My mom and I both had no idea where I got my science brain from, because it certainly wasn't her, and I didn't know who my father was. Since I was born it has just been me and her.

"And that's time everyone! Hand your tests to the front please!" Mr Grayson said out of nowhere, bringing my mind back to chemistry. Right on cue, the bell sounded for recess.

After grabbing my bag from locker, I headed straight to the cafeteria to find my very best friend, Olivia Jenson. She was a total airhead, but I loved her so.

"Claire! Over here sister!" she called across the cafeteria, instantly grabbing my attention, and the attention of every other student who was seated. With a roll of my eyes, I headed over to her grinning face. Liv came from a big family, and wasn't really the quiet type, like I was.

"How's life been?" she said as she offered me a bite of her apple pie.

"Pretty dull. You?"

"Ditto."

_'Claire Montgomery, please report to the front office. Claire Montgomery to the front office please'._

"Claire? What have you done?" Olivia asked, trailing behind me as I stood from the round table and began to make my way to the office.

"Nothing, well, nothing's coming to mind," I said nervously.

I slowly entered the front office.

"Claire Montgomery?" the woman behind the desk inquired.

"Yes."

"You can go straight through to Mr Vaughn."

"Okay, thanks," I said, still not knowing what was going on.

With every step I took down the hall, the nervousness in my stomach just continued to grow. I knocked politely on the door before opening it, and gingerly stepping inside. Mr Vaughn was seated at his oak desk. Sitting in front of him was a policeman, and another executively dressed woman.

"What's going on?" I asked. All three heads turned to face me.

"Ah, Claire. Have a seat," Mr Vaughn said. I didn't like where this was going. He then gestured to the police officer.

"Claire, I'm Detective Thomas, I am very sorry to inform you that there was a very serious car accident involving a lorry. No one survived."

"What are you saying?" I asked. I could already feel the tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

"Claire, your mother was involved in this accident, she didn't survive." I broke down. Tears began to invade my face, as well as loud sobs. Olivia was in stunned silence behind me. My shaking legs were no longer able to hold me, as I was about to flop to the floor; Olivia jumped in, and held me up.

"This is Jane Wood, from Child Services. She is here to inform you that if he agrees, you will be moving in with your father." My tears stopped, and it was my turn to be in stunned silence.

"My, real father?"

"Yes, he lives in New York; your father is Tony Stark." Olivia and my jaws flew open.

"Okay. Now, I know this is a very difficult time for you, Claire. But, it has already been arranged, on your behalf that you will be staying with the Jenson's, until a more permanent living situation is decided," Jane said. I just nodded in reply.

"We can contact him for you. You will have a reply, in the next few days, a week maximum." Another nod. The whole 'you're going to meet your father' thing was still sinking in, and that my father, was Tony Stark.

"Olivia's mother is on her way to take the both of you home," Mr Vaughn said as comfortingly as he could. Olivia supported me the whole way down the hall, and back to my locker. I slowly collected my things, and followed Liv out to her mom's car. Her eyes were red and puffy, she'd been crying too.

"Come on girls, let's go home," she said kindly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Tony, you have to get a grip on the new arc reactors for Stark Industries, they've been in storage the last month!" Pepper Potts said firmly as she marched into my workshop. Once she realised I hadn't even heard what she said, she turned off my music.

"Pepper, why?" I whined.

"You have to do something with these new arc reactors, they've been is storage for a month!"

"I will, I'm working on something new," I mumbled as I finished tinkering with a possible upgrade for my suit. Tossing my wrench aside, I stood and after stretching out my back, arms and legs, waltzed over to Pepper and planted a kiss upon her strawberry blonde head. I then proceeded to get myself a drink.

"That's not an answer," Pepper said with an exasperated sigh. "Also, there was a call from someone name Jane Woods? Do you know what that's about?"

"Nope. The only Jane I know is Jane Foster, the astrophysicist," I remembered. "And she's, somewhere, doing, something."

"Well she said it was important, and couldn't wait, so I suggest you call back, now," Pepper urged and pushed the phone in my direction.

"Fine," I grunted and dialled the number that Pepper had written down. This Jane, answered on this first ring.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Yeah, this is Tony Stark; you have left a message with my secretary Ms Potts?" I said as formally as I could.

"Right, Mr Stark. We need to talk about your daughter."

"What?" I spluttered, my scotch went everywhere. "I don't have a daughter." As soon as I said the word daughter, Pepper's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"Yes, you do. You're listed on her birth certificate as her biological father-"

"If this is some scam, to get money out of me, don't waste your time-"

"I assure you Mr Stark; Claire Montgomery is your sixteen year old daughter. And she's currently dealing with her mother's death. "

"Who's her mother?"

"Diana Montgomery."

I racked my brain, trying to remember a Diana, but I came up blank. But... then I remembered…

"So what does the kid want? Money or-"

"We are requesting she come and live with you. She has nowhere else to go. Look, think about it for a few days, and then get back to us. I believe I gave Pepper Potts our contact number. But please be quick."

After hanging up, I was in pure shock.

"Well?" Pepper asked expectantly.

"I have a kid," I said slowly, a wobble in my voice. "A daughter, Claire, she's sixteen."

"What was the call about?"

"Her mother, Diana was in a car crash, and she's dead."

"And?"

"They want Claire, to come here, to live."

"To live!" Pepper exclaimed. But then the gears started to turn in her mind.

"No, Pepper, no, don't give me that look," I said, and slowly began to back away. She followed me of course, her eyes burning a hole in my head; a little grin overtook her face.

"Tony, she's only sixteen, she needs people to care for her."

"I don't know the first thing about kids! Especially, _teenagers_."

"Tony, you can't just leave your daughter, alone with nothing!"

"I, need to think about this, for a moment," I said quickly almost ran upstairs.

...

It had been almost two hours before Pepper decided to approach me again. I'd been sitting in our bedroom, with my scotch, overlooking my billion dollar view of the city. I'd heard her come in, but my gaze didn't shift.

"Hey, Tony," she said tentatively, taking slow, soft footsteps. "Have you been thinking?"

"I have, alot actually," I replied slowly.

"And?" she asked, reaching my side and placing a gentle hand on my left shoulder.

"I'm gonna do it," I decided, turning my body to look up at her.

"Really?" she said, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Pepper what if I'm a terrible parent?" I asked. She obiviouslysaw the fear visible in my eyes. She looked at me sympathetically.

"That's impossible, she'll have me as a step-mother."

"I'm serious. What if she, hates it here, with me?"

"The first few weeks will be tough. She's just lost her mom, so, she'll need some time to grieve, but things can then only got uphil from there."

"Thank you. I honsetly don't know what I'd do without you." She smiled sweetly in reply.

After a moment of silence, she got up off the bed and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To call that woman before you change your mind," she said with a small grin. I smiled internally before following her.

...

"Okay, it's all arranged, Tony. We'll be meeting her for the first time on Thursday," Pepper said nervously after hanging up the phone.

"That's in two days!" I started to panic.

"Tony, calm down, it's going to be fine. She has things to do with her mom that she needs to sort out first. As much as you might not like to admit it, you are not the priority here." I stuck out my lip in a pretend pout.

"Fine. So, how is this happening?"

"Okay, listen very carefully, we are flying to Chicago on Thursday. We will meet her, but she will not be flying back with us. We will have to arrange a date for her to come over here, and then we will pick her up, and bring her back here to live. Okay?"

"O-kay! I'm not five, Pepper."

"Believe me, yes you are," she said jokingly and ruffled the top of my head.

"So, I guess we need to get her bedroom, and uh, other stuff sorted?"

"I figured we'd just let her pick when she gets here?"

"Pepper, she would've just gotten off plane, not to metion still grieving over her mom, I don't think she'll be in the mood to make a whole lot of desicions."

"What if we guess that, and guess wrong? Then she might begin to hate being here, with us."

I sighed in frustration. "This is going to be so hard!"

"At least she's not a new-born child, Tony."

"No, we are not discussing _that_, now."

"Fine. Well, then, I've got some shopping to do." She left before I could apologise.

"Yep, I'm going to pay for that one," I mumbled to myself before disappearing back to my workshop.

...

"I can't believe this is actually happening," I said to Pepper as we boarded our Stark Industries jet to Chicago, the following Thursday. Those two days had just zipped past, and here we were, about to commence our journey to meet my daughter.

"Me either," she replied quietly as we boarded the jet and settled ourselves into the plush leather seats. I put my head back as we rumbled down the tarmac, and lifted off into the air.

Halfway into the flight. Pepper turned to me.

"Tony, there's one important issue we need to discuss."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Iron Man."

"What about it?"

"Now that we're starting a family, we're starting a new chapter in our lives-"

"And?" Seeing how fired up I was, she decided to close the topic.

_"Mr Stark, welcome to Chicago, we will be touching down in roughly ten minutes."_

As I sat back in my seat, I started to think about what Pepper had said. What was going to happen to Iron Man?

...

**Author's Note: Hello my fellow readers, sorry if this update took a while, my internet has been going haywire recently. **

**So anyway, here is the second chapter, will Pepper make Tony give up Iron Man? Stay tuned to find out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter** **3**

Staying with Olivia and her family was strange. Usually she and her brothers Dylan, Jackson and Liam were so loud, and weird, and most of mine and Olivia's sleepovers included games, and play-fights in which we were all included. But this time, there was nothhing but awkward silence. As if they were afraid to speak. Olivia's three older brothers were afraid to speak. At this stage, I had cried non-stop into Liv's shoulder all afternoon, and was now attempting to eat dinner with the family.

"Do you want some more pie, honey?" Olivia's mother, Julia asked sweetly. She's been crying too, as she and my mom were very close friends.

"Uh, no thanks," I replied quietly, with a sniff. I caught some awkward glances between the brothers and their father.

"Mom, I think we're gonna just, go back upstairs," Olivia said, reading my mind. After putting down my fork, she took my arm and led me back to her room where I layed face-down on her bed, my face buried in her fluffy pink pillow.

"How are you feeling?" she tried, for the hundredth time that day.

"I'm fine," I sighed in reply, like every other time. She decided to leave it at that.

"Claire," Julia said from the doorway. "You have a phone call from Jane Woods?"

Jane Woods, who was she? The Child Services woman! She'd be calling about my dad! I wasted no time jumping off the bed and hurtling myself downstairs to the phone.

"Hello?" I said out of breath and panting.

"Hello Claire? It's Jane Woods from Child Services, we met on Tuesday?"

"Yeah, yes, I know. So, what's the word?"

"I've been in contact with your father, and he would like to meet you."

"Really?"

"Yes, he does, he seems very excited. So, you'll be meeting tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow? That's so soon," I said nervously.

"Well, he doesn't want to waste any time. So, they'll be arriving at the Jenson's at eleven-thirty tomorrow to discuss living arrangements."

"Okay, thanks," I said, and hung up.

"Who was that?" Julia asked, Liv was standing behind her mom, an excited look covered her face.

"I'm, meeting my father tomorrow."

"Really? Darling that's wonderful!" Julia said and gave me a hug. "Is everything with you, mom, sorted out?"

"Yeah," I said sadly.

"That's, great," she replied. "Well, get some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow."

...

"I can't believe this is about to happen," I said as I paced nervously in the Jenson's living room. I'd been doing this for the last half an hour.

"Claire, relax, it's going to be fine. Just, be yourself," Olivia said.

"Liv, that's first date advice, not first time meeting your father advice!"

"Okay, sorry! I have no idea what to expect."

"Me either! God, I'm so nervous!" She grabbed my shoulders and looked directly into my eyes.

"Claire, I know these last two days have been horrible and terrible and full of darkness and pain, but, today is meant to be happy, and I will not have you sad when you meet you father! Okay?"

"Okay. This is what mom would've wanted, I think, we didn't really talk about it."

"Claire, they're here!" Liv said both excitedly, and nervously. I looked out the front window to see a polished black Rolls Royce stop at the curb. And there he was, my father, Tony Stark dressed in an executive grey suit and designer sunglasses, and his dark hair styled perfectly. With him, was a strawberry blonde woman dressed in a slim white dress that stopped just above the knee, with a matching blazer and white pumps. There was also a bodyguard, dressed in a black suit and dark sunglasses.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," I said to myself as they approached the front door. After a slight pause, the doorbell chimed. Julia answered, opening the door timidly.

"Mrs Jenson? I'm Pepper Potts, we're here to speak with Claire Montgomery?"

"Yes, please, come on in," she said, opening the door wider for the trio to fit in. Suddenly, I was standing face-to-face with my dad. He looked as nervous as I felt.

"We're just going to, go to the kitchen," Julia said, and took Liv to the kitchen, she gave me a grin and a thumbs-up on the way out. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up.

"Hey, Claire. I guess I'm your dad," he said shakily, and gave me an awkward hug.

"You guess?" I said with my eyebrows raised.

"You know what I mean, I hope?" he said.

"Yeah, of course I do," I said, as I sat down on the couch. He sat in one of the chair's opposite me, Pepper sat in the other, and the guard, who's name was Happy, stood at the front door.

"So, what do we need to discuss?" I said matter-of-factly, it was the only way I was going to get through it without crying.

"Well," Pepper said, taking the stronghold. "We need to discuss living arrangments, and some other things, but firstly, do you want to, live with us?"

Oh god. "Yeah, I'd really like that." I smiled as I saw his shoulders relax.

"Great! That's wonderful, Claire. So, you'll be moving into the Stark Tower, with us, in the next few weeks-"

"Is there anyway we can, speed things up a little?"

"What do you mean?"

"The more I stay here, in Chicago, the more it's going to remind me of my mom, so, can I just come with you guys, today?"

"Today?" Tony stuttered from his chair.

"_Tony_," she hissed. "I'm sure that can be, arranged?"

"Uh, sure, sure, let's do it then," he said hastily.

"Really?" I said excitedly.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay!"

"Wow, well then, Claire, is there anything you still need to sort out with your, mom?"

"Not really. The house is for sale, and apart from the stuff I wanted to keep of her's, the rest has gone to charity."

"That's very mature of you, Claire. And I'm just, so sorry about your mother," Pepper said softly.

"Thanks," I said simply. "So, are we doing this or what?"

"Okay! Claire, why don't you go and grab your things, and we will talk things over with Mrs Jenson, and then we can get going," Pepper said.

"Alrighty, I'll see in a minute then," I said and ran upstairs.

...

"I'm gonna miss you sister," Olivia said that afternoon. Everything had been arranged for me to move to New York with my father, and his secretary/girlfriend Pepper, that was going to take some getting used to.

"I'll miss you so much as well Liv, don't worry, I'll call you everyday," I said and hugged her tight. Tears began to well up in my eyes.

After hugging Julia, then Liv's dad Greg, then her three brothers because really they were like my brothers too, Happy had already taken my bags to the car, and Tony looked like he was about ready to go home. He'd barely said five words the entire visit.

"Well, I guess I'm off," I said, and after one last hug from Liv, left with my new family.

**Author's Note: So, sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I had to get over the awkward meeting to get to the New York part :D **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I could not believe what was happening. No less than two days ago, I was mourning the terrible loss of my mother, and now here I was, on one of my father's many private jets speeding my way into a brand new life. So far, I'd never left my home city, now here I was flying to the other side of the country to live with my father, Iron Man, in his tower in the middle of New York City. I was nestled quite comfortably in a white leather chair, my father was seated a few metres away from me, reading the paper, and Pepper was seated on the other side of the jet tapping away at a Stark Industries laptop. Happy was, somewhere. Just the inside of the jet was luxuriously furnished, mahogany and leather was the main theme, but I also counted at least two built-in bars. Behind the bars, were glass cabinets, each filled to the brim with at least ten different types of alcohol. I hadn't heard of most of them. As I continued to look around, I began to feel really under-dressed for the jet. My father and Pepper were all executivley dressed, as I mentioned before, and here I was in my jeans and shirt and Vans. I felt like such a potato.

"Claire, sweetie, would you like anything to eat or drink?" Pepper asked from the other side of the jet. I quickly bounced my attention from the liquor cabinets to her direction.

"Uh, just water would be okay, thanks," I stammered, and after a few minutes accepted it in shaky hands. Pepper, seeing my awkwardness, decided to break the ice.

"You're just going to love the tower, Claire. You'll have a wonderful view of the city and heaps of space. That reminds me, when we touch-down in New York, we get to go shopping. We have to furnish your room!" she said excitedly and clasped her hands together in anticipation. She closed the laptop, turning her full attention to me.

"That sounds great!" I said, deciding to improve my mood.

"What kind of things are you into?"

"Uh, well, not your usual girl stuff, I guess," I said, a little awkwardly. I was speaking the truth of course, I mean, how many teenage girl's favourite band is Paramore?

"Well, I'm sure we'll have no problem figuring it out. Right, Tony?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, no problems," he said, lifting his head out of his paper for the first time through the entire flight.

"Although, I'll really be fine with anything," I said.

"Nonsense!" Pepper exclaimed. "You can have whatever you like!" I smiled in reply.

_"Sir, we will be arriving in New York City in roughly ten minutes, I suggest you prepare yourselves for landing." _I glanced around in surprise at the English accented voice that seemed to be coming from nowhere.

"That's just J.A.R.V.I.S, he's the, butler," my father said from behind his paper.

"Ah," I replied, still a little rattled. That was also going to take some getting used to. I heard my father shift in his seat, we must be nearing home. I turned my body to face out the window, and of course, the Big Apple was just visible through the grey rain clouds. Even from here I could see tall skyscrapers and large monumental buildings, as well as Central Park.

"Welcome to your new home," Pepper said happily as the jet began to go lower, and lower until we were only a few metres above the ground. We landed on the tarmac with a gentle thud. After coming to an abrupt halt, the engines powered down and the door opened. A light rain had just begun to fall. Happy exited the plane first, there was already a black Rolls Royce waiting for us about thirty metres from the jet.

"Tony!" A voice called from the left side of the car.

"Rhodey? What the hell are you doing here?" he said happily as he strode down the steps of the jet.

"I heard you had a, situation. I thought you might want some help," he said with a mischievous grin.

"What kind of situation did you hear about?"

"Just a little whisper about you having a, kid?" he said, replacing his mischievous grin with a smug one.

"And, who did you hear this off?" Rhodey gestured subtly to Pepper.

"What?" she said innocently. "I thought he could help?"

He glared at Pepper for a moment until turning to me. "Uh, Claire, meet my friend, Colonel James Rhodes," he said a little uncomfortably.

"Call me Rhodey," he said with a wink as he shook my hand.

"Okay, Rhodey," I said. I could tell we were going to be friends.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm about ready to head home," my father said and strolled to the car. Happy quickly opened the door before jumping into the driver's seat. Tony took the passenger seat, and Pepper, Rhodey and I seated ourselves in the back.

Traffic, was crazy. Ten times as bad as Chicago, we didn't go five metres without having to stop, and the rain just made it worse. Though I've never really minded the rain. I found it soothing as we wound our way through the busy streets. The whole way, Rhodey, Pepper and I nattered about this and that, my life back in Chicago, my friends, my high school, my mom. Before I knew it, the car was slowing down, to a gradual stop. I heaved myself out of the vehicle, and gaped at the sight in front of me. The tower was huge, even from all the way down here I could see the STARK sign glowing at the top. And I was meant to live here? Jesus...

Inside the tower looked even more expensive. We were greeted at the front desk in a lobby kind of area by a preppy blonde receptionist, and hopped straight in the elevator. Happy, had my bags so with the five of us, it was the teeniest bit squished. I was mushed in the middle of my father and Pepper, I had to hold his arm to keep myself from falling over. He seemed to welcome my touch. Progress had been made! The elevator was quite fast, I hadn't had much experience in elevators, and begun to feel a little light-headed as we went up and up. I was truly astonished when we passed the eightieth floor. Finally, there was a ding, and the heavy doors rolled open. My jaw dropped as I took in my new house.

"What do you think?" Pepper asked as I stepped out of the elevator, and began to look around.

"This is amazing," I breathed back.

"Thank you," my father said quite smugly. He'd now said seven words the entire trip. More progress. I heard a 'thwack', closely followed by an 'ow'. I turned to see my father rubbing his shoulder.

"Well, if you will all excuse me, I have a security update I need to tend to," he said and abruptly left the room. Pepper, Rhodey and I glanced after him. After shooting him a concerned look, Rhodey followed him downstairs.

"Don't worry about him. He just needs some time to get used to, this," Pepper said sympathetically.

"It's fine," I said, masking my disappointment.

"Now, I was thinking, to celebrate your first night here, I thought we could get pizza for dinner? Yes?"

I nodded excitedly in agreement.

...

Once I'd reached my workshop, I'd poured myself the biggest drink I could, and sat in my chair. Not surprisingly at all, Rhodey had followed me.

"What?" I asked, though I knew what he was going to say.

"It wouldn't hurt you to make more of an effort you know. She is your daughter, after all."

"I'm still wrapping my head around things, Rhodey. Until two days ago, I never even knew she existed, and now here she is, in my living room!"

"Well think about her for a moment, Tony. She's just lost the most important person in her life, her mom, you of all people should know what that's like."

I glared at him.

"Sorry, that was a cheap shot. All I'm saying is, don't judge her so quickly, not all teenagers are bad."

"I guess you're right, and she is _my_ daughter," I mumbled as I twirled a screw-driver through my fingers.

"Good. I'm sure all she wants is for you to tell her you lover her, or at least like her," Rhodey reassured me.

"Fantastic. I'm sure I can do that," I said. With this new-found confidence, I followed Rhodey upstairs to Pepper, Claire and Happy munching their way through two large pepperoni pizzas.

"Yum," I said aloud as I seated myself next to Claire. She almost nestled against my arm. Pepper looked over at me happily.

...

Once the pizza had gone, Happy left, Rhodey left, and Pepper went to bed. Dinner had given Claire and I a lot of time to chat, and really chat. I found out that her favourite band is Paramore, she hates pink and she still has a teddy bear. She even showed me the bear, or penguin as it were. _His_ name was Fred. She also told me that she loves to read and write, but she was fairly good at math and science, thank heavens.

"Uh, thanks so much for letting me live here, dad," she said timidly. I was a little taken aback by the words that came out of her mouth.

"No, problem, kid."

"Well, as lovely as this is, I am absolutely exausted and am going to bed," she said soon after.

"Okay kid, do you remember where your room is?"

"Yes, I'm not five!"

"O-kay! Goodnight then, Claire." She gave me a brief hug before disappearing down the hall. I pumped my fist in the air. Tony Stark, father of the year!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
**

I woke up Friday morning, feeling completely jet-lagged. I'd had a pounding headache since three in the morning and my stomach was doing cartwheels. I rolled onto my side to look at my alarm clock. It was only six -thirty. With a groan, I heaved myself out of my queen-sized bed and fumbled down the hall to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. I was astonished to find Pepper perched at the kitchen bench, reading the newspaper. She heard my un-coordinated entrance and glanced over.

"Morning, Claire. You're up early," she said as her phone buzzed.

"I wasn't trying. I feel terrible," I moaned as I collapsed into the bar-stool next to her.

"You're right, you don't look to good. Do you want an aspirin?" she asked as she got out of her seat.

"Yes. Please." As she fetched it for me, I looked at my reflection in the stainless steel toaster. I was a wreck. My hair was all knotted and frizzy, I had dark circles under my eyes and I had a wonderful new collection of black heads on my chin.

"Here you go," she said and placed them in front of me next to a glass of water. I took them gratefully and gulped them down one after the other.

"Where's...Dad?" I asked. I still didn't really know what to call him. I felt we'd made a little bit of progress after our little chat last night at dinner, but it was still immensely awkward between us.

"I think he's downstairs working. You can take this down to him if you'd like?" she said and handed me a cup of coffee.

"Sure," I replied. "Though I still have no idea how you people willingly get up at this hour." I heard her chuckle in response.

I'd been given the grand tour of the tower yesterday upon my arrival, but I still managed to get lost three times before finding my way down to my father's workshop. He had his music cranked up loud as he worked quickly and quietly on some little device.

"Um, hello?" I said, but my voice wasn't audible over the volume of his music. After a few other attempts I'd had enough.

"Hey!" I shouted as loud as I could. Clearly startled by my abrupt approach, the screwdriver he's been holding clattered to the floor. He whipped around in his chair to identify his intruder.

"Oh, it's you. Jesus.. don't do that, okay? You'll give me a heart attack."

"Sorry, it was the only way I was going to be heard," I said with a smile as I put the coffee on the counter next to him. "Pepper thought you might want this."

"She's such a mind reader," he said as he took a sip. "What do you have planned for today, kid?"

"Not sure. Pepper wants to take me shopping to 'furnish my room'. Other than that, not much."

"That sounds great. What kind of stuff do you want to get?"

"I really have no idea. I have no sense of design or anything of the sort," I said as I pulled up a chair next to him.

"Me either. I generally leave all that crap to Pepper," he said with a grin as he went back to tinkering with his screwdriver. As he did, I glanced around his workshop. He had a pretty nice set-up for a tower. My eyes skimmed over robotic type devices and what looked to be half finished projects, and then my eyes fell on something red and yellow.

"Is that what I think it is?" I breathed as I slowly moved towards it. He turned to see what I was looking at.

"Oh, that old thing?" he said with a laugh.

"It's amazing. It's still hard to believe you basically built it in a cave," I said, but then wished I didn't as I could tell it pained him to think about it.

"You know about that?"

"It was all over the news, for months," I said shyly.

"It's okay, I'm over it, if that's what you were thinking," he said and put his hand comfortingly on my shoulder.

I smiled. "What's the time?"

"Ten to seven."

"God, it's only been twenty minutes?"

"Afraid so, kid," he said and took another sip of coffee.

"Well, I'm up now. I'm gonna go and get dressed."

"Okay, kid," he replied as he went back to tinkering after he'd picked up his screwdriver.

…

After Claire had gone back upstairs, her admiration of my Iron Man suit reminded me of the conversation I still had to have with Pepper. I wasn't looking forward to it as I was convinced that she was going to make me give it up. I wasn't sure I could. Iron Man was like the other half of me, and that one half couldn't live without the other. A phone call interrupted my thoughts.

"Stark here," I said into the receiver.

"Stark? It's Steve, Fury wants you on-board the helicarrier by tonight."

"Capsicle, it's good to hear from you. What does Fury want?"

"I don't know yet, none of us do."

"He's calling the team back together?"

"Seems like it, I hear that Banner has resurfaced in the Boston area, he's sent Widow and Hawkeye to go get him, and Thor has made a special trip, as Fury reached out to Jane that he was needed."

"Great, this is exactly what I need right now," I grumbled to myself.

"What's wrong? Is this a bad time?"

"Yes, but I don't see a better one coming along, so, I'll be there. Count me in."

"Great, eight sharp." And Steve had hung up. Looks like this conversation was going to happen sooner than planned. I ditched my tools on the table, and went in search of Pepper. This is exactly what we all needed on a Friday morning, Pepper's wrath.

I found her sitting at the kitchen counter, reading the paper and responding to e-mails that seemed to be coming in faster than she could reply. She must've heard me coming up the stairs because she was waiting.

"There you are, I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, I know, I was working on something. Pep, there's something I need to talk to you about," I said softly. Concern crossed her face.

"Is it serious? Should I worry?"

"No, not as of yet. I just received a call from Steve. Fury wants us all on board the helicarrier, by tonight."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He hasn't given details yet."

"Of course he hasn't. How long will you be gone for?"

"I don't know that either."

"God Tony! Aren't you forgetting something! You have a _daughter_ now, a child, who needs to be taken care of! She doesn't need you flying around in that suit being shot at!"

"I'm only going to find out what it is, Pepper! I won't be getting shot at!"

"Yeah well I've seen how that turns out, Tony! Next thing you know we'll be invaded by aliens again!"

"Loki was a psychopath, Pepper. He-"

"And what's to say that this isn't another of those times?" Pepper said desperately.

"Fury's expecting me. I want to at least hear him out."

"What about your daughter, Tony? What are you going to tell her? She's been with us for what, two days, and you're already leaving her?"

"I'll tell her what's going on, just give me some time, okay?"

"Fine, I'm going to have a shower," she said and stalked out of the kitchen. I sighed in frustration and put my head in my hands.

"That went as well as expected," I said to msyelf. I fetched myself a bowl of cereal and collapsed onto my couch and turned on the TV. Suddenly, Claire poked her head around the corner from the hall.

"What was that about?" she asked timidly.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Yeah right," she said and came and sat next to me. "It sounded serious. What's going on?"

I turned to face her. "What would you say, if I had to go away for a little while on some...business stuff?"

"You mean S.H.I.E.L.D stuff? Dad, I'm not stupid, I overheard half the conversation, and there are S.H.I.E.L.D files literally everywhere."

"Okay then smartie pants. Would you get upset if I left for a while?"

"I've lived without you for sixteen years, I think I can handle a week or two," she said with a smug grin.

"Well, you're defintely my daughter," I said. "Fury expects me on the helicarrier by tonight, so I'll be leaving in the next few hours."

"Fine, Pepper and I have other plans. Just.. Don't die on me, okay?"

"Okay," I said and gave her a hug.

...

By mid-morning, I'd left the tower and was flying in the direction of Hawaii. I would meet the helicarrier somewhere over there. I'd left Pepper in a state, but at least Claire was cool with it. Pretty soon, the outline of the carrier was visible through the clouds. I landed on the flight deck, much to the surprise of everyone on board. I was greeted by a few, and then escorted inside. I met Fury in one of the many conference rooms, already there was Thor and the Captain.

"Ah, Stark, good to see you, old friend," Thor said.

"Hey, Tony, how've you been?" Steve asked.

"That's a hell of a question actually, Stevie. Confused, is the best I can do for now," I said as I sat down.

"How so?"

"Did any of you know I had a daughter?" My sentence was met with looks of bewilderment.

"What? How?" Steve asked, his words were stuttered.

"Congratualtions, Man of Iron," Thor said confidently.

"Since whe-"

"Good evening everyone." The table fell silent as Fury entered the room in his all black attire. Hawkeye, Black Widow and Bruce Banner were in tow. They each took a seat at the table. "Welcome back to the helicarrier. You're all probably wondering why I wanted to gather you all together so urgently. Well, the reason is, we may be facing a global disaster."

**Author's Note: So, I know the end of this chapter goes the teeniest bit off-topic, but I thought you should know why Fury called the team together. As usual, thanks everyone for reading, and don't forget to review! If you have any questions, or issues, just PM me, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! xo :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
**

"I'm having a strange sense of deja vu here," I said aloud after Fury had broke the news of the potential global catastrophe.

"I think we all are, Tony," Steve said in reply.

"And I don't blame you," Fury cut in from the head of the table. "Now, I understand that the last few months have been difficult, on all of you, and if you don't want to participate, I will completely understand, no hard feelings."He gestured to the door exiting the conference room. No one moved a muscle.

"Good," Fury continued. "I expect you back here in a few days to go over Intel on the situation, until then, you're dismissed, but be prepared for anything." And he exited the room without another word. I raised my eyebrows at Steve who shrugged awkwardly in reply.

"Does that mean we're free to go?" I asked from the end of the table, ending the silence we had fallen into.

"It does, Mr Stark, unless you'd like to stay?" Maria Hill said sarcastically from the back of the room. I didn't even notice she'd come in.

"Nope, I think I'm just gonna…go," I said quietly as got out of my seat. Thor, Steve and Bruce followed suit. Clint and Natasha stayed exactly where they were.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Bruce asked as we hit the main floor of the carrier.

"I really have no idea, Bruce," I said as I lowered my iron mask and prepared to walk out onto the flight deck. By now it was nightfall; there was nothing but pitch black for miles, although you could hear the ocean underfoot.

"You'll have to stop by the tower sometime, Bruce!" I called, my words just audible over the roaring wind.

"I might just take you up on that, a little birdie told me you had a kid! Something I _have_ to see!"

Steve. It'd had taken him all of ten minutes to let the cat out of the bag. I groaned to myself inside my suit as I took off into the air.

…

I landed home with an almighty thud in the early hours of the morning onto my landing pad. After straightening out, I headed inside, my armour smoothly removing itself from my body. Inside was dark, all the lights were off, and there was no one to be seen. I decided to take a quick peek inside my office and see if there was anything new going on at S.H.I.E.L.D, I was permanently hacked into Fury's files, he didn't know. Suddenly, as soon as I entered, my lampshade turned on, and Claire spun around in my chair.

"Jesus! Again?"

"Sorry," she said with a little smirk.

"What the hell are you doing? It's two thirty in the morning!"

"I couldn't sleep. Pepper thinks I went to bed ages ago," she said.

"So you lied to her?"

"You know, lying is such an ugly word. I was, evasive about the truth?"

"Get to bed right now, young lady."

"Hold on," she said quickly and came to a halt in front of me. "I want to know what happened at your super-secret meeting."

"Well, Claire, it's called super-secret for a reason," I said and steered her towards the door.

"Please, Dad? Who am I gonna tell?"

"It's honestly too early to tell what's happening. Fury has us on stand-by."

"Oh, well that's boring. Night!" she chanted and then skipped off down the hall to her room. I sighed out of exhaustion and confusion as I heard her door close.

…

"How was your meeting last night?" Pepper asked that next morning.

"Jeez, why does everyone want to know how the meeting went?" I said aloud, by accident.

"Who else wants to know?" I had her full attention now. Crap.

"It's no biggie, Claire, just-"

"Claire? Claire was asking about it?"

"Well I wasn't going to lie to her, Pepper! She knew it was about S.H.I.E.L.D anyway. I didn't tell her the details of the meeting or anything!"

"Fine, I don't even care," she said and brushed off the argument. "By the way, we need to talk about a school for Claire."

"Good idea. I've heard about one close by that's really good, a friend's kid goes there," I suggested. "It's like... Manhattan High, or something along those lines."

"Okay, we can check it out, I'll call the school later this afternoon, we should try to get started by next week, luckily the semester has only just begun, it shouldn't be too hard for her to catch up, she's a smart girl."

"Yeah, she loves math and physics, top of her class back in Chicago."

"Someone's proud," Pepper teased. "Well, if we're sending Claire to school, I suggest you go and tell her."

"Yes ma'am," I saluted and went in search of my daughter. I found her in her room still in bed on her laptop. I knocked politely before entering.

"Hey, Dad," she said as I reached the middle of her room.

"Still haven't been shoppping I see," I said as I glanced around the almost empty room.

"Yeah, Pepper said some work stuff came up, I don't really care, but yeah," she said as she closed the lid to her laptop.

"Well, I'm here to inform you that we are visiting a high school for you, tomorrow. Pepper's making the arrangements as we speak."

"Cool, what's it called?"

"Manhattan High, or something like that," I said as I sat on her bed next to her. She rasied her eyebrows at me.

"Well, you seem enthusiastic," she said sarcastically, before grabbing her phone and replying a message after the screen lit up.

"Okay then, kid. I'll be in my workshop and Pepper will be somewhere. Just to be sure, you're okay with this school thing?"

"Yeah, I've always liked school, as long as there's a decent sciecne program, I'll be as right as rain."

"Great, I'll come back with details later."

"Okay," she replied simply and went back to her laptop. And here I was expecting an entire song and dance about it. I wandered back into the kitchen as Pepper was just getting off the phone.

"So? How'd she take it?"

"She's fine, she's glad to be going back to school. Is everything set?"

"Oh yes, that was just the principle, Mrs Johnson, she's very glad to be having such a prestigious student join the school."

"I bet she is. I'm a little worried though, this is either going to go fantastic, or terrible."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, she can handle it," Pepper said as she stood from her seat. "Have a little faith, Tony." She patted me on the shoulder before disappearing.

...

"And here we are, back at the beginning," Mrs Johnson announced as she finished giving us the grand tour of Manhattan High. The entire time, students has gawked at us through the exposed windows, trying to get a glimpse of the great, Tony Stark. It was very unsettling. But, about halfway through my tour of the library, a very cute boy caught my eye, and I seem to have caught his.

"Well, sweetie, what do you think?" Pepper said after the tour.

"It was great." And it had been, the entire school was beautiful, and very grand, and there was no uniform, which was a plus!

"Do you think you'd like to go here?"

"I think I would," I said with a beaming smile. Mrs Johnson looked like she was about to burst as she shook my hand.

"Well then, Claire, Mr Stark and Ms Potts, if you'd like to so kindly come to my office we can get the enrolment paperwork started?"

"I think that sounds great," Dad said as we followed behind Mrs Johnson. As we entered her office, I realised just how much I had to go to the bathroom.

"Of course, Claire. Do you remember where it is?" Mrs Johnson had said after I'd asked.

"I think so," I said as I got out of my chair and headed out the door. I didn't actually have to go, a few seconds before I'd entered the office, I'd seen the boy again. He was waiting for me outside.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" I said jokingly as he stood up to face me. He was quite tall, but muscular, and I could see the outline of a six-pack under his grey shirt. He had sandy brown hair and ice blue eyes.

"I'm Luca," he said and held out his hand.

"Okay, Luca. I'm Claire."

"You thinking of starting here?"

"I am, next week I'll be a Manhattan High minion." He chuckled.

"Well, I should probably let you get back to your parents. You're dad is really Tony Stark?"

"Yeah, I know. Hard to believe _he _would ever have a kid."

"I'm sure it's not so bad."

"I guess not, I should be so lucky, right?"

"Well, if you ever feel like you need saving, call me," he said, and gave me his number!

"Sure thing," I said as my parents came out of Mrs Johnson's office. I told him a quick good-bye before racing back to my parents.

...

"Who was that boy I saw you flirting with?" Pepper asked once we were in the car on the way home.

"Nobody," I lied. Pepper raised her brow at me. "Fine, just a guy I met, Luca, he seemed nice, and gave me his number."

"His number? You talked for ten minutes!" Dad said protectively.

"What can I say? I'm an influential person," I said with a smug grin. Dad and Pepper just grinned at my foolishness.

"I'm sure he's lovely," Pepper said, redirecting the conversation.

I leant back into my seat thinking about Luca. I wondered how things would pan out, unfortunately, I had to wait the entire weekend.

**Author's Note: So, here's the next chapter! Who is the mysterious Luca, and how will Claire's first day go? As usual, please review! I love all your feedback and positive comments! :D xo**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter** **7**

I was seriously freaking out. It was Monday morning, and I was about to start at my new school, in a different city, with no friends whatsoever. Hell.

"Claire, what's wrong? You look like you're about to pass out?" Pepper asked at the breakfast table.

"Oh, you know, first day jitters," I said as I tossed an orange clumsily in my clammy hands.

"You'll be fine! Find that Luca boy you like and I'm sure things will be swell," she joked, but when she saw I wasn't kidding her face softened. "Darling don't worry, everything will go perfect, you're a bright, smart young girl, you'll make friends in an instant."

"I know, I just haven't had a first day in a really long time. And even then, I've always had Liv, and my mom." A tear escaped my eyes, it was the first time I'd cried in days.

"I'm sorry, honey," she said as she wiped the tear away. "But you can't dwell on it, you don't have anything to do but look to the future, okay?"

"Okay," I said as confidently as I could. "Where's dad? He's meant to be taking me in..ten minutes?"

"He's around here somewhere, check down in his workshop that's where he is most mornings anyway." I raced downstairs in the hopes of finding him, thankfully, there he was, surrounded by...stuff... I'd never seen before.

"Dad! What the hell are you doing?" I exclaimed.

"I'm on the verge of a breakthrough," he mumbled.

"Did that 'breakthrough' involve getting me to my new school on time?" He glanced at his watch.

"Crap! Sorry, honey, I'll be quick," he said frantically. The first time I'd ever seen him in a hurry. He was usually so calm and collected, not this morning apparently. He rushed around the tower looking for a shirt, sock, his jacket and finally his keys. After shouting good-byes to Pepper, we jumped into Stark 4, and roared away, to downtown Manhattan. With the clock nearing half past eight, I was starting to sweat. A wave of relief washed over me as Manhattan High came into view at the end of the street. Dad abruptly halted at the curb.

"Good luck! Have a great first day, I'll see you tonight!" he called through the window before driving off. I wasted no time getting inside as the bell was scheduled to go in approximately five minutes. Luckily, Luca somehow managed to find me through all the mayhem and crowded hallways.

"Mrs Johnson wants to see you before you begin, and I'd hurry, the bell goes in exactly a minute," he said quickly. "I'll escort you, I'm basically your tour guide for the first week."

"Fantastic," I said as he guided me through the halls. With each new corner I got about twenty stares. Even as I was rushing, I could hear their whispered conversations.

"That's Tony Stark's daughter..."

"I wonder what she's doing here...?"

"I heard she moved from Chicago, because her mom died.."

"Apparently her dad didn't even want her.."

Great. There were already rumours being spread about me. Next thing you know I'll be hearing that I'm a lesbian, who was kicked out of her last school for seducing her chemistry teacher. Luca saw my panicked face and gave me a reassuring smile. He too has heard the harsh words.

"Don't worry about them, they're afraid of what they don't know."

"Or who they don't know," I mumbled to myself as we stopped outside Mrs Johnson's office, exactly where I had been standing almost two days ago.

"I'll wait out here, I heard that we have a majority of the same classes," he said with a little grin.

"Okay, I promise I won't take too long," I said and hurried inside. Within the minute, I was back outside with my timetable, and textbooks, which Luca so kindly offered to carry for me. He escorted me to my locker and then to our first class, English. As soon as we entered, my appearance was met with everything from icy glares to kind smiles, as I quietly followed Luca to the back of the classroom. The moment I sat down, a dark-skinned girl leant over the back of her chair to talk to me.

"You're Tony Stark's kid right?" the girl had a British accent. She also had on bright, floral tights, a white singlet top with silver sequins around the neckline, lots of chunky jewellery, and massive hot pink pumps.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Claire, Claire Montgomery.

"I'm Sabrina Wilson, welcome to Manhattan High. By the way, Luca, are you going to Seth's party tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." She smiled brightly in reply, but quickly turned back around as our teacher walked in.

"Good morning everyone, I hope we all had a splendid weekend? Well, picking up where we left of last week, please open your books to page seventy-five!" Just as he was about to start taking the roll, he spied me at the back.

"If I could just have your attention again, we have a new student with us, this is Claire Montgomery." He gestured for me to stand up. "I'm Mr Kent, and it is an absolute pleasure to have you in my class."

"Um, thanks," I said quietly, wishing that everyone would stop staring with their judgemental looks. I quickly sat back down and flipped open my book.

...

"Thank god that's over," I exclaimed as I opened and closed my locker for recess.

"You might as well get used to it, you've only got to do it what, seven more times this week?" Luca joked. I gave him a playful punch on his upper arm.

"Shut up. Anyway, tell me about Sabrina, is she a friend of your's?" I asked as we headed towards the cafeteria.

"Yeah, she has been since the eighth grade."

"She looks a little...wild, if that's even the right word?"

"She's definetly unique, I'll give her that." As we entered the cafeteria, I was met with more stares and hushed conversations about my origins, although it wasn't as bad as before. After following Luca to what I thought was his regular table, I was intercepted by three girls, and I could just tell that they were _that group_.

"You're Claire, right?" The head of the group said. She was the tallest, due to her massive stilettoes and her face was so orange, from what I guessed was half a bottle of foundation, and a crapload of fake tan. She had dyed bleach blonde hair and was dressed in a skimpy singlet top, in which her fake boobs almost fell out, and a little leather skirt that barely covered anything. Her wannabes looked the exact same.

"Yeah, I'm, Claire," I stuttered, feeling like such a dork in my jeans and shirt, and single swipe of mascara.

"We are just, so sorry about your mom," she said, a little pout overtook her lips. "She was really in a car crash?"

"I guess news really does travel fast."

"And your father, is really Tony Stark?"

"Yeah."

"It must be amazing, in that tower, overlooking the city," she began gushing. "We'll have to hang out sometime, yeah?"

"Yeah... sure."

"Well, if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask me or either of my friends. I'm Di, and that's Yvette and Cassie, okay? Ciao," she said and then gave Luca a little wink and a cute finger wave before stalking off in the opposite direction. It took me a second to come back to reality, for a moment, I was back in Chicago, where Mr Vaughn had first informed me of my mom's death.

"Hey, what's wrong? What did Di do to you?" Luca said as I slowly approached the table, my lunch shaking in my hands, where he and Sabrina had seated themselves comfortably.

"My, mom's name...was Diana." I collapsed into the blue plastic chair and stared straight ahead with blank eyes.

"Hello? Earth to Claire?" Sabrina repeates, clicking her fingers and waving her hands. "Do you think we should take her to the nurse?"

"No, I'm fine," I said, coming out of my state. "Sorry guys, it was the first time I've heard her name."

"We understand, sweetheart, you've got nothing to be sorry for," Sabrina said kindly as she stroked my hair.

**OoOooOoooOOoOooOoooOOoOooOoooOOoOooOoooOOoOooOoooO OoOoo**

After recess was math, which I was in no mood for. At least my teacher was okay, Ms Brown was a young woman fresh out of college, who actually knew what she was doing.

"Today, we are starting equations! Please open your workbooks and get started," she had called out as soon as I had walked in. I had always found equations easy. At least now I know where I get my smartness from. Sabrina wasn't in this class, but Luca and Di were. I sat next to Sabrina, but Di took this is a chance to, get to know me and my father better.

"I've never been good at math," she said in her Barbie voice, after she'd plopped her things down next to Luca and I. "Do you even understand this?"

"Yeah, it's easy, you just have to eliminate stuff from both sides, until you have the numbers on one side and the pronumerals on the other," he said, and showed her how to do it, even though Ms Brown had showed the class how to no less than five minutes ago.

"I get it now! You're so smart, Luca," she said flirtatiously, and twirled her hair in her fingers. "We should all totally study together!"

"I... work better alone," I said quietly.

"Oh come on Claire-bear! Lighten up! I'm sure you're dad wouldn't mind us coming over tomorrow afternoon right?"

"I guess not."

"And Luca, you're coming too, right?" she said and batted her eyelashes at him, which by the way were gunked with mascara.

"Sure," he said, deciding not to argue with her. I, on the other hand was furious.

...

"I mean, who the hell does she think she is?" I shouted that afternoon at home. I had successfully caught the bus back to the tower, with steam coming out of my ears the entire way. I'd been slamming doors and stomping around angrily since three o'clock.

"Who is this person?" Pepper said. I could tell she was confused.

"This, absolute bitch in my math class, she's one of _those_ girls, who just, invited herself over here, to study!"

"Why's that a bad thing?" Dad said from the living room.

"I do not want her here, she's only being friendly because of you! She doesn't actually like me, dad. At least Luca will be here."

"Wait, Luca, who you met the other day? He's coming here?" Pepper said excitedly.

"Yeah, she strong-armed him into it because she has a thing for him, I can tell."

"Claire, calm down, I'm sure it'll be fine. At least this Luca guy seems to be okay."

"He is fine, dad, he's not the problem. Di, is the problem."

"Her name's Di?" Pepper said in horror.

"I'm fine, Pepper. I just want it to be over and done with, and she's been texting me non-stop!" I said as my phone buzzed yet again. "I'm going to my room."

"Sheesh." I heard my dad say as I slammed my door. I layed face-down on my bed in my newly furnished room, and waited for a blackhole to swallow me up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter** **8**

What I woke up to the next morning, I was not at all prepared for. I had just gotten out of the shower, dressed in my usual casual wear, and with my hair only half dry I waltzed out to the kitchen thinking this was going to be just a normal day.

Boy, was I wrong.

I was met by four men, seated awkwardly in the living room. Pepper was nowhere to be seen, either was my father. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. As I was about to tip-toe back to my room, my sudden movement caused a floorboard to creek. The four heads instantly turned in my direction. Damn. I smiled discreetly in their direction.

"Hi," I said awkwardly.

"You must be Claire, I presume?" A smaller man with glasses said. He was considerably smaller than the other three he was seated with. His voice was husky.

"I am. Where's my father?" I asked curiously.

"The Man of Iron's whereabouts is not known," a man with shoulder length blond hair said in a big, booming voice. Remind me to never trifle with him.

"What he means to say is, Tony hasn't been seen since we arrived," another blond man said. You could tell he was from a different era, just by the way he was dressed. Suddenly, it clicked.

"Are you guys the Avengers?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Well, there's no point in denying it." Yet another man with dark blond hair stood from the leather sofa. "I'm Clint Barton, master archer, that there is Steve Rogers, soldier from the 40's, then we have Thor, the demigod and Bruce Banner, rage monster. Natasha, unfortunately couldn't make it today."

"I see. Well, it's lovely to meet you all," I said politely as I could. I'm sure I looked calm on the outside, but on the inside I was hyperventilating and my heart was going a million miles an hour. I just about collapsed through the floor with relief as dad came into view. He was extremely taken aback by his four, clearly unexpected guests.

"Claire? What's up your eyes are as wide as plates-" he turned to the living room. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" he asked in shock.

"Dad..." I mumbled. "Be nice." But I don't think he heard me.

"Claire, it's about time you left for school isn't it?" he said as he started moving me in the direction of the door.

"O-kay, but jeez dad it really seems like you're trying to get rid of me," I said with a little smirk.

"You're right, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. Bye, sweetie! Have a fabulous day!" The elevator doors closed before I could retort. I rode the elevator down to the ground floor in silence, thinking about who I'd just met. If the Avengers were in my father's tower, something big was about to happen. With thoughts of aliens and monsters swirling around in my mind, I made my way down to the subway. Turns out there had been a collision at the next platform. Second day of school and I was going to be late. Fantastic.

By the time I arrived at school it was halfway into second period. I had Modern World History, and according to Luca who was also in that class, the teacher was a real hard-ass. This was proven the second I knocked on the door.

"Ah, Miss Stark! Better late than never, I presume you have a legitimate reason for being so late?"

"I'm so sorry, Mr Allen, traffic was crazy," I said quickly. "And it's Montgomery."

"Excuse me?" he said. Every single person in the class was staring at me. What had I done?

"Um, I haven't gotten around to changing my name yet, I'm still Claire Montgomery."

"You do not speak back to me in class, Miss _Montgomery_. You'll be staying behind after class today. Now I would advise you to sit down and not say another word. Not a great start to the year, hm?" he said as he began writing on the board. I pulled a face behind his back as I sat next to Luca.

"What the hell?"

"I told you he was a hard-ass."

"Indeed you did. As if I have to stay behind, _he_ got _my _name wrong!"

"Miss Montgomery! I thought I advised you to be quiet!" Mr Alllen exclaimed.

"It was me," Luca said quickly. "I was talking."

"Well then, Mr Jenson, you'll be joining Miss Montgomery after class." I gave Luca a grateful look. He smiled in reply as the class then settled into reading about the beginning of World War Two.

...

After Luca and my detention, and lunch was upon us, yesterdays memories came flooding back. Of Di, and her wannabes, and the fact that she was coming to my house, tonight! Because she wanted to _study_.

"Claire? What's wrong? You have a very dark look on your face."

"I just remembered what's happening tonight," I said with a sigh.

"Oh yeah, studying at your place, with Di."

"Shut it. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Claire! Luca! Over here!" I turned around very slowly to see Di and her friends waving at us. "I saved you guys seats!"

"Fantastic," I groaned as we made our way over and sat ourselves down.

"How are you? All set for tonight? It's not a problem, is it?" she asked, batting her thick eyelashes at me.

"It should be fine," I replied as I bit into my salad sandwich. I was shocked when the three of them pulled out little containers of salads, and poured dressing over them. I'd never seen it before. Back in my old neighbourhood, anyone who ate salad was an idiot.

"I'm super excited. I can't wait to see your house!" she exclaimed. I nodded as enthusiastically as I could. "And to meet you dad, he is such an inspiration! You're so lucky to have him for a father."

"Mh-hmm," I said through mouthfuls of my sandwich. I finished my lunch, and as I scrunched up the paper it had been wrapped in and tossed it into the garbage from where I was sitting. Much to my pleasure, the bell went before I said something horrible.

"I'll see you tonight then!" she said and gave me a little hug before trotting off down the hall, her wannabes in tow. I sighed as I watched them disappear around the corner.

"It'll be fine," he said, reading my mind. "Now, if we don't hurry, I'm going to be late to Chemistry, and you're going to be late to English Writing." He then proceeded to walk me to my class, as I had no idea where I was going. I kept my eye on him as he casually sauntered around the corner.

...

The rest of the afternoon flew past. After studying _The Great Gatsby_ for almost an hour and a half, I was ready to go home. As I collected my brown leather shoulder-bag from my locker, and my homework for that day, I made my way outside the school to the bus stop. My bus was the first bus there, so I jumped on and comandeered the back seat. As it took the bus twice as long to wind through the hectic streets, I decided to dig out my iPhone from the bottom of my bag and text Olivia. I hadn't spoken to her since I moved. It'd been at least a week. The second I texted her, she replied with a phonecall.

"Claire-bear! Oh my god it's been so long! Tell me every single detail of everything!" she exclaimed.

"Where to begin? The tower, is incredible, my room is massive and the views of the city are amazing!"

"What's it like living with Iron Man?"

"Well, not much has happened, it's been like living with your regular parents, I guess."

"Awesome! And what about school? I saw a status of yours on Facebook that you were starting school?"

"Yeah, I had my second day today. I've already made a few friends, one of which is Luca Jenson."

"He sounds sexy." I could just imagine the smirk on her face.

"Oh he is, Liv. He's tall, with sandy blonde hair, dark eyes and his _lips_," I gushed.

"Mm, who else?"

"There's this other British girl, Sabrina. She's very... unique."

"Tell me about the 'popular' clique. There's one at every school."

"Don't get me started! The Queen Bitch's name is Di and I hate her. The second I walked in the door she was basically all over me, and she's already invited herself over, to my father's tower, to 'study'."

"I'm sensing sarcasm?"

"Yes! She only wants to come over to swoon over my dad!"

"Eugh, yuck."

"Tell me about it!" By now the bus had finally gotten itself to the tower. I jumped off and ran inside, as a light rain had begun to fall. I shook off the little water that had settled onto my coat and hopped in the eleavtor.

"What's that weird sound?" Liv asked.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just in the elevator."

"I'm so jealous!" she moaned.

"Well, soon, I hope, you should come up here and stay with me for a while!"

"I would love that! That would be the best!"

"Well," I said as the door began to open. "I can ask right now, don't hang up!"

I walked out of the elevator in the living room. There was no one to be seen.

"Hello?" I called out. No one answered. Dammit.

"Yeah?" someone called back.

"Pepper, there you are," I said as I found her in her bedroom.

"Claire, how was your day?"

"Uh, fine. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"I was wondering, if Liv, could possibly come and stay with us, soon?"

"That's a great idea! Why don't you call her and we can set it up?"

"You're sure dad won't mind?"

"Don't worry about him," she said. With a grin, I lifted my phone back to my ear.

"You can stay!"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. I had to hold my phone at arms length while she yellled and screamed with joy.

"Okay, well, I have to go now, I'll talk to you again soon!" I said and hung up before she could say anything else. The second I hung up, I got a text, from Di.

"Oh god, Di will be here in twenty minutes," I whined. "I'd better get prepared then."

"It'll be fine," Pepper said reassuringly.

"Where's dad?"

"He had to go out for a while, he'll be back soon though."

"Great," I said as I went back downstairs. I changed out of my jeans into sweat-pants and a simple grey long sleeved shirt, but changed back into what I had on before, as Luca was still coming. I then arranged some snacks and sodas, and waited patiently in the living room for them to arrive. I got a text from Di, informing me that they were here, I told them floor eighty. I jumped around nervously as I watched the light on the elevator increase.

"Pepper! They're here!" I called upstairs. She made her way down and sat at the bench. The elevator dinged, and as the doors slowly opened, my eyes widened in shock and horror.

**A/N: So, I know this chapter is a bit rushed, but as I haven't updated for AGES, due to a couple of family issues, so here it is. If you like, tell me what you don't like and I can re-upload it later :D As usual, read and review PLEASE! :) xo  
**


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